Graduation Mass, Sunday 19th May

At Sunday’s Graduation Mass, Chief Celebrant Fr. Cormac O’Brolchain gave yet another superb homely using the acronym WWW (Who am I? What is my best gift? Welcome).

In the Gospel procession the Banners proclaimed the gifts of courage, reverence, understanding, wisdom, wonder, knowledge and sound judgement – all that we wish for our boys, for each other. Added to that the virtues of love, self-control, patience, peace, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, generosity were highlighted. The Prayers Of The Faithful were offered in eleven different languages, representing the diversity, wisdom of you the class.

It was a deeply moving Liturgy, appreciated by the boys and their parents. The Cantors, Choristers and Readers were outstanding. For this and much more I thank most sincerely: Mr Madden, Mr Tom Ryan, Mr Grumley-Traynor, Ms Crimmins, Mr Orrock, Mr O’Reilly, Mr Swan, Mr Sullivan, Ms Drew, Mr Herlihy, Mr Hurl and members of the R.E. and Pastoral Teams; Fintan O’Connor, Marco Himpers, Tommy Moore, Alan Sheridan and the Maintenance and Household Staff.

The presence of Union President, John Rogan (Class of 1989), Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Connor, the Chairman of the Board Of Management, Mr Damien Kennedy, the S.E.T. Executive Officer Tom Sheridan and his wife Evelyn, Mr Ronan Barry from the S.E.T, members of the College Spiritan Community, as well as our teaching colleagues added hugely to the occasion.

I thank the 6th Year Parents Committee for the decoration of the Jubilee Hall. It was at its finest. I also thank the 5th Year Parents’ Committee for hosting a lunch reception in the Refectory and, of course, Mary, Albert and our Catering Staff.

The Graduation Lunch, held at the Pavilion, Leopardstown afterwards was organised by the 6th Year Parents Committee where 606 continued the celebrations. The valedictorian Tom Dwan delivered an excellent speech as did the Dean Mr Ryan and the chairman of the 6th Year Parent’s Committee, Kay Kelly.

A fantastic day – well done to the Class of 2019 and their parents on a wonderful celebration of their time at Blackrock.